Training and skills development firm NIIT has partnered with US-based edX to offer online courses from leading international universities including MIT and Berkeley to about 5 lakh people over the next three years.
"Through this partnership, NIIT and edX aim to create high-impact learning experiences for learners by offering a blended learning MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) model," NIIT Chairman Rajendra Pawar told reporters here.
EdX is a not-for-profit joint venture between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and offers online courses from world's leading universities like Berkeley, Caltech, IIT-Bombay and Princeton University.
Anant Agarwal, CEO edX and MIT Professor, said, "India has always been a focus for us, especially with the government's emphasis on Digitalisation and Upskilling. With this strategic tie-up, edX will offer a tremendous opportunity to learners to access high-quality education."
Pawar further said the course will be engaging and offer live interactive experience going much beyond the core MOOC content.
About 10 programmes across areas like programming using Python from MIT, HTML5 from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Data Science and Analytics from Columbia University, and Data Science and Engineering with Spark from University of California, Berkeley, will be offered jointly by NIIT and edX.
"In the next 3 years, we are looking at reaching to 5 lakh people," he said.
The 3-4 week courses will be priced between Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000. These can be availed by students as well as working professionals looking to upskill themselves.
Despite the popularity of MOOCs, studies have found that completion rates of the programmes are low with some reported to be significantly less than 10 per cent.
The low retention and completion rates are major concerns for educators and institutions as an estimated 5 per cent of enrolled students complete a free MOOC.
Even MOOC courses with paid verified certification options see completion rates of only 60 per cent or higher.
"So, there is significant scope for improvement which this initiative is targeting with its unique blended learning model," he said.
For select courses, NIIT and edX will offer a pre-configured course that includes the MOOC, blended services from NIIT and certification exam from the institutional partner.
EdX has partnered with Indian universities like IIT Bombay, IIM Bengaluru as well as Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani. It has more than 7.3 lakh Indian learners and has seen 96 per cent growth in its Indian learner base over the last year.
Speaking on the launch of India's Nxt Tech Star movement,
Prakash Menon, President, Global Retail Business, NIIT Ltd. said, "Technology is fast changing. Platforms that are used today may become redundant tomorrow. Therefore, just skilling our youth is not enough, we need innovators and quick thinkers. India's Nxt Tech Star has been designed to encourage the spirit of innovation in youth, inspiring them to become the next tech idol who can redefine the world of technology."
An engineering or science graduate, not more than 25 years of age and with at least 60% marks in their graduation/post-graduation in any science discipline, enrolling for the May and June batches of the Java Enterprise with DevOps, MEAN Stack or Big Data programs under NIIT digiNxt can join the initiative. Students can walk-in to the nearest NIIT centre or to identified Cafe Coffee Day outlets in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad & Bangalore, to enrol.
Once enrolled for the Diginxt program the students can sign up for India's Nxt Tech Star, wherein they will be provided with the option to choose a category of their interest. The Interested students will have to attend additional two-hour session every week where the ideas would be discussed further and they would be mentored by experts to create their app.
India's Nxt Tech Star would be chosen on the basis of Innovation Quotient of the project, Usability/Design, Market Potential of the idea. Students are expected to build, test and release a complete demonstrable version of their app. The projects will be judged by a combination of top architects, start-up CTOs, and product managers. The tech used for the projects would largely be up to the student and is expected to showcase futuristic stacks, awesome UX and a large degree of smarts embedded into the app.
The winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 2,50,000/- from NIIT. The first runner-up will win a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/- and the second runner-up win a cash prize of Rs. 25,000/-. All the finale participants will be given a certificate of appreciation & merchandise worth Rs. 2000/-.
To know more about NIIT diginxt programs please visit: - www.Niitdiginxt.Com or Call Toll Free number:- 1800 102 6448
About NIIT
NIIT is a leading Skills and Talent Development Corporation that is building a manpower pool for global industry requirements. The company, which was set up in 1981 to help the nascent IT industry overcome its human resource challenges, today ranks among the world's leading training companies owing to its vast and comprehensive array of talent development programs.
With a footprint across 40 nations, NIIT offers training and development solutions to Individuals, Enterprises, and Institutions. NIIT has three main lines of business across the globe - Corporate Learning Group, Skills and Careers Group, and School Learning Group.
